GMAT Prepositions and Idioms: “of”

UPDATE: You can find this blog and others about idioms in our new GMAT Idiom eBook!

Prepositions in English display a powerful diversity of uses. In previous preposition article, we talked about the proposition “to“. Here, we will look, at the preposition “of.”

The preposition “of”

The word “of” is a preposition. This means, it must be followed by a noun — or by something playing the role of a noun. This latter category includes gerunds and substantive clauses.

1) No amount of talking about issues facing the homeless will satisfy their most basic needs in the short term.

2) We are now absorbing the unfortunate consequences of what last year’s county administration thought would benefit us all.

In sentence #1, the object of the preposition “of” is a gerund phrase, and in sentence #2, the object is a substantive clause. Incidentally, both of these are exemplary of idioms involving the word “of.”

Verbs requiring “of”

There are three very different verb idioms involving “of”:

consist of

accuse A of B

think of A as B

In the idiom “A consists of B“, A is the complete object or the finished product, and B is the material of which this product is composed. It can be used literally, for the actual physical material making up an object, or it can be used metaphorically for the content of something.

3) Atomic Theory states that all material objects consist of atoms and that the macroscopic properties of objects depend on the microscopic interactions of these atoms.

4) The candidate argued that his opponent’s “New Horizons” program consisted of no more than a revision of the former governor’s discredited ideas.

Notice that, idiomatically, we would use the present participle for this verb, “consisting of“, but the past participle for two verbs with the same meaning: “made of” and “composed of.”

Now, a totally different idiom. When someone accuses A of B, A is the person accused, and B is the crime or infraction.

10) Fundamentalist Christians in the US think of Evolution as merely an opinion held by some scientists, whereas most scientists writing in peer-reviewed journals think of it as established truth beyond any doubt.

A potpourri of idioms

The diversity of idioms involving “of” is mind-boggling. One collection has to do with the composition or constituency of things:

consisting of

made of

composed of

a collection of

a number of

an amount of

The first three were discussed in the previous section. Most other collective nouns (organization, association, crowd, team, herd, flock, etc.) follow this pattern. The object of the preposition “of” are the people or items or material that compose the group or the whole. Remember to use “number” for things you can count, and “amount” for uncountable bulk.

12) The amount of revenue that the United States government collects from payroll taxes in the US is approximately equal to the amount of revenue from personal income taxes.

Another closely related idiom:

chance of

probability of

When we speak of a “chance of A” or a “probability of A“, A is the event whose probability we are discussing. This event A may be an ordinary noun, or even a gerund or gerund phrase, but the GMAT does not like the construction

If you want to talk about that much action, you need a full “that” clause with a [noun] + [verb]. Don’t try to wedge a full action into a preposition phrase using a noun & a participial phrase: chance that or probability that

13) On a five card draw from a full deck, the chance of drawing a “royal flush” is 649,740 to 1.

14) The probability that a player will hit four homeruns in a single baseball game is very low: this feat has happened only sixteen times in the history of Major League Baseball.

If this last sentence had been phrased “The probability of a playing hitting …”, that would be the form to which the GMAT objects.

One idiom metaphorically related to the “constituency” idiom above is:

capable of

Here, when we say A is capable of B, A is the person and B is an action. Metaphorically, A “contains” or “is made of” the capacity to do B. Often, this plain statement, “A is capable of B”, can be rephrased more concisely using “can.” Nevertheless, this flexible idiom can appear in a number of other guises:

15) The detective considered the culprit capable of cold-blooded murder.

16) The swan, capable of flying long distances, is much more frequently depicted on water than in the air.

Two words follow a very different idiom with “of”

result of

consequence of

Whether we say A is a result of B or A is a consequence of B, we are saying B is the cause and A is the effect.

Once again, it’s fine to have a gerund or gerund phrase, but if the case involves both a noun and a verb, we could no longer use the preposition “of” — we would have to change around the entire sentence.

Compound prepositions

Many prepositions consist of only one word, but in a few instances, two words together function as a single preposition. Four of these involve “of”:

because of

instead of

as of

out of

For the first two, again it is important to remember: a preposition can have as its object either an ordinary noun or (more likely on the GMAT) a gerund phrase, but if we want to put a full noun + action phrase, the GMAT frowns on having a [noun] + [participle] follow a preposition. This latter structure demands a full subordinate clause. In fact, this is precisely the difference between “because of” and “because.”

19) Because of the uncertainty surrounding the new tax law being debated in Congress, the stocks dropped for a third consecutive day.

20) Instead of invading the Italian peninsula by sea, as all previous aggressors had done, Hannibal travelled over the Alps to invade by land from the north.

The idiom “as of” is particular tricky: it is used to denote the precise time of a particular transition. The object of “as of” is always either a time or an event whose time is well known.

21) As of next Wednesday, Phophon Stores will no longer accept the competitor’s coupons.

22) As of the enactment of the 26th Amendment in June, 1971, all citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 have been eligible to vote in all elections.

The idiom out of can be used for the physical movement from a place —- think of Isak Dinesen‘s memoir Out of Africa — but more often it is used metaphorically for the source material of some creation:

23) Out of innumerable Slavic folk melodies, Tchaikovsky fashioned some of the finest masterpieces of the classical repertoire.

Finally, a very tricky case: the idiom on account of is roughly synonymous to the idiom because of. The latter is more natural in most cases, and usually lends itself to a more concise phrasing. The former is more pretentious and verbose, which makes it appropriate, say, for legal-ese, but not particularly appropriate for the GMAT.

30a) On account of the stock market’s sudden and precipitous rise, the bond market has rallied over the past few days.

30b) Because of the stock market’s sudden and precipitous rise, the bond market has rallied over the past few days.

Technically, both versions of the previous sentence are correct. Nevertheless, I have never seen the idiom “on account of” part of a correct answer on the GMAT Sentence Correction. On the one hand, be suspicious if you see Sentence Correct answer choices involving “on account of”, but on the other hand, know that it is technically correct.

Summary

Know the idioms given in bold in this post. As always with idioms, read, read, read! Search for the idioms in this post in context. You understand English best when you understand it in context.

Mike McGarry is a Content Developer for Magoosh with over 20 years of teaching experience and a BS in Physics and an MA in Religion, both from Harvard. He enjoys hitting foosballs into orbit, and despite having no obvious cranial deficiency, he insists on rooting for the NY Mets.
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Dear Nine,
Thank you very much for your kind words. The prepositions are tricky here — we would say “distant from reality” or “distance from reality.” We use “from” for a separation. If we have an intended goal, we would use “to” with “distance” — “a distance of 10 miles to San Francisco.” We would never use “of” with “distant,” and only use “of” with “distance” to express units: “It’s a distance of 10 miles from Magoosh’s office to San Francisco” or “A marathon covers a distance of 26.5 miles.”
Does all this make sense?
Mike

Dear Xiexie,
This is a subtle distinction. If the structure [prep][noun][participle] encapsulates an action (e.g. “with the mayor signing the new ordinance …”), then the GMAT disapproves and prefers a full clause with a full verb. BUT, if the structure is purely descriptive, as in your example, “Because of the uncertainty surrounding the new tax law …”, then that’s 100% correct and perfectly acceptable on the GMAT. Does this make sense?
Mike

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